| Executive Department |
| Atlanta, Georgia
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| May 1, 1862
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| Maj. John S. Rowland, Supt. W. & A. R. R. {Superintendent,
Western & Atlantic RR}
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| The object of my order to you not to
ship cotton over the road was to prevent unscrupulous speculators
from purchasing cotton in Georgia and shipping it to points in
Tennessee, likely to be overrun by the enemy, with a view of selling
it to them.
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| I am now informed that this order,
without modification, is having an injurious effect upon the good
people of Tennessee who need cotton for their own use, and that
speculators who had carried cotton through, prior to the order, are
now requiring the people to pay very exorbitant prices for the
cotton in their hands, which, from necessity, the people are
compelled to do.
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| In this state of the case justice to the
loyal citizens of that noble State, who are our neighbors and our brethren
engaged in our common struggle for liberty and independence, and who
have kept their provision markets open to us, require that such
modification of my order be made as will enable them to receive such
supplies of cotton as they need for their own use upon the cheapest
and best terms possible.
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| My order is therefore, hereby changed so
as to authorize you to carry over the State road all such quantities
of cotton as may be needed to supply the necessities of the
people of that State. This change is intended to operate as well in
favor of the manufacturers as the other citizens of that State, and
to be extended upon like terms to the people of Virginia so as to
authorize the shipment of cotton destined for Lynchburg, or points
between Bristol and that point. To prevent speculators from taking
advantage of this order to accomplish the object first mentioned, it
will e necessary that you require satisfactory evidence at the place
of shipment that the cotton is intended for the use of the people
about the point of destination, and not for speculation; You will
therefore require the shipper to file at the depot where the cotton
is shipped an affidavit in the form hereto appended.
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| Joseph E. Brown
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